Short One Person

Posted on Sun Feb 20th, 2022 @ 4:38am by Captain Cynthia Jackson & Lieutenant Luke Osswell

1,081 words; about a 5 minute read

Mission: Mission 4 - A Rose By Any Other Name
Location: Holding Cell

Arras had brought a rubber ball with him when he walked into his cell. Now he laid on the bunk, throwing the ball against the wall, catching it with one hand, then threw it back against the wall, this time catching it with his other hand. This went on for some time.

"It seems you have gotten yourself into a bit of a pickle, Doctor", Luke said when he had stepped quietly into the brig after having observed the Lieutenant for a few minutes from outside.

Arras didn't sit up. "Captain disobeyed a legitimate order, from the chief medical officer, to submit to an examination." Then he sat up. "You here to get a court martial board going? If so, I want a JAG officer, captain or high rank as my attorney. Second, I want the head of starfleet medical here, to examine the captain."

Luke listened to the Doctor's demands, which, frankly, raised an eyebrow on Luke's forehead. "Woah, hold your horses. I didn't accuse you of anything yet. Why don't you tell me your side of the story first, and take it from there, all right?"

"When the captain boarded that asteroid world, she was separated from the landing party and the ship couldn't contact her to establish her safety. When she came back, regulations require that she be given a complete physical...which she refuse to do. I demanded she report to sickbay, she refused, so I went to the bridge and, under my authority as chief medical officer, ordered her to report to sickbay. She refused. So, being the most senior person on the bridge, besides the captain, I relieved her of command. That's why I'm here, charged with mutiny." He looked at Osswell.

Luke listened attentively. for he was aware that if this incident wasn't handled with the utmost care it could prove disastrous for the Doctor's career, or the Captain's, for that matter. This could prove to be quite a pickle.. "Alright, while it is true that the senior Medical Officer has the right to relieve Captains of their command if they are deemed medically unfit, it is one of the most extreme options for doctors, or anyone really, to resort to. As such, these actions are taken only under the gravest of circumstances and only as a last resort if all other routes have been considered, tried and then ultimately failed."

Luke paused: "Have you considered and attempted alternative methods before resorting to this last resort, Lieutenant Arras?"

"I asked her to report to medical for a physical....she refused. Then I demanded.....she refused...then I went to the bridge to demand she report...she refused. Based on all that, and the safety of the ship and crew, I did the only thing I could do....relieved her of command, lieutenant. Now, once Jag and the head of Starfleet medical gets here, she will have no choice to to take the physical." Arras responded.

Luke listened to Lt. Arras' story, and nodded in comfirmation. "Indeed, she will have to. Indeed she will... But we are far away from Jag and the head of Starfleet Medical. It could take weeks. Are you going to sit here, in the brig, all that time? What if I bump my head and need surgery? No offense to your medical staff doctor, but I would rather you operate on me than nurse Chapel."

"Chapel doesn't operate. You'll be treated by the very young and inexperienced Doctor Jonas, who is fresh out of the academy and starfleet medical and has no real life experience." replied Arras. "I have been relieved of duty, which means I can't do any surgery or even a simple exam."

Luke frowned. "My, such a stickler for the rules, aren't we? Well then, it is best that we clear this whole thing up tout suite. So that we can all be assured of your excellent medical care, and not have to gamble our lives away by relying on some sprout fresh out of school." Luke paused, grabbed a padd and typed in some commands. The humming of brig cell's forcefield changed an octave. Then he turned back to Arras. "I've created a dampener field within this cell, and recorded our pleasant chat from earlier and put it on a loop, in case anyone is checking in."

When Lt. Arras' expression turned to that of one slightly confused, Luke went on: "You are right to have done what you did, because whoever is sitting in that command chair is not Captain Cindy. I suspect the real captain is still on that asteroid we left behind."

"Unless you're talking mutiny, we have little recourse in this situation, lieutenant." Arras responded.

Luke grinned, "It's not really mutiny when it's not really our Captain, now is it? I knew it the moment she forbade me to call her Cindy, something she has been trying to get me to do since I first set foot on this ship!" He began pacing around in the cell, thinking. "First things first. Besides myself and the Captain the only other individual in the away mission was Lt. Kevin Chambers. We need to verify that the individual walking these corridors is really him. Problem is, the moment I let you out of this brig, Fake-Cindy will know something is up. Any suggestions?"

"Only suggestion I have is, let me out, we go to the bridge and expose the captain."

"As suggestions go, I had hoped for something more than that. Isn't there a way to scan the captain remotely to prove she's not who she says she is? Honestly I think that is the only way to expose her without risking a big showdown between the two of us and the rest of the crew."

Arras suggested, "Of course! We could scan the ships for the number and types of life signs on board. If the counts are the same, that will be more problematic."

Luke pondered a while. "We'd be taking a big risk, Lieutenant. If she manages to fool the scanners somehow..." He threw up his hands. "Blast it, we're doing it. We can't let this charade go on any longer, who knows what the intentions of fake-Cindy are, not to think of what is happening to the real one." He deactivated the dampening field and the barrier keeping the medical officer locked in.

"Well then", Luke said. "here we go. The history books will tell if this is the right decision...."

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